WIPO’s July & August PCT Newsletter Recap

We’ve compiled a shortlist of highlights from WIPO’s PCT newsletter, an excellent resource for IP professionals and patent applicants looking to stay on top of changes to the PCT system. Please see below for a recap of the July – August 2014 edition:

PCT Statistics 2013: The PCT Yearly Review was released, summarizing PCT activities and developments from 2013. This publication contains filings by top countries of origin, by top applicants and by technical field. The 2014 edition also included a special theme relating to how universities and public research organizations use the PCT system. Download the entire PDF version here.

Power of Attorney Waiver Notification under PCT Rules 90.4(d) and 90.5(c) (France):The National Institute of Industrial Property (France), in its capacity as receiving Office, has informed the International Bureau that it waives the requirements under PCT Rules 90.4(b) and 90.5(a)(ii) to submit either a separate power of attorney or a copy of a general power of attorney, with effect from June 2, 2014.

ePCT Update: A new release of the ePCT system was deployed on June 25, 2014. Please see below for new features in the release:

ePCT Actions: Improvements have been made to a number of ePCT Actions, as it is now possible to save the following ePCT Actions as drafts without having to submit them immediately:

declarations under PCT Rule 4.17 prepared after filing using the ePCT Action;

observations by the applicant on close prior art prepared using ePCT private services;

observations by third parties on close prior art prepared using ePCT public services;

when an Action is previewed prior to submission, the date and time of the preview is indicated as a watermark in the top left-hand corner of the page;

improvements to the „Submit Chapter II Demand“ Action

Electronic Filing and Processing of International Applications European Patent Office: The EPO has notified the International Bureau that it is prepared to receive and process the demand for international preliminary examination filed in electronic form. Further information is available here.